Home BancShares names new CEO, President for Centennial Bank

Home BancShares, Inc. on Tuesday (May 14) named a new CEO and president for its wholly-owned subsidiary Centennial Bank, which is 25 years old this year.

Stephen Tipton will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer of Centennial Bank, having served as Chief Operating Officer since 2015. In addition to the role of Chief Lending Officer, Kevin Hester has been named as President of Home BancShares and President of Centennial Bank. Hester has served as the Company’s senior lender since the company began 25 years ago.

John Allison will remain as Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Home BancShares, and Tracy French will remain as Chairman of Centennial Bank, with a focus on special projects, having previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer.

“I would like to thank the boards of directors of Home BancShares and Centennial Bank for the opportunity to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Centennial Bank. Over the past 18 years, I have been blessed to work closely with Tracy French and John Allison, as our bank has transformed into one of the premier financial institutions in the United States. I am honored to work alongside our leadership team and nearly 2,700 associates as we continue our mission of consistently exceeding the expectations of our customers and shareholders while enriching the communities we serve,” said Tipton.

“It is an honor to be named President of Home BancShares and Centennial Bank, in addition to continuing my role as Chief Lending Officer. As a founding employee, I am very proud of all that we have accomplished over the last 25 years, and look forward to continuing to build on our reputation as one of the best banks in America,” said Hester.

“Home BancShares and Centennial Bank are blessed with a deep bench in terms of talent and experience of the management team. I view this shift as an opportunity to effectively utilize the depth of our management team in a way that sets us up for the future. This group spans four decades and embodies over 130 years of banking experience and has worked together for many years and will continue to work together each day to ensure that Centennial Bank remains one of the best banks in America. Congratulations to both Stephen and Kevin, and I look forward to working with you both for many more years to come,” said John Allison, Chairman of Home BancShares.

“I’ve had the good fortune of working with this management team for over 20 years and am very proud of the accomplishments we have made. I look forward to the future and continuing my work with this talented team and outstanding bankers at Centennial Bank. I think these strategic steps will allow us to continue to grow and focus on our core strengths that have made us one of the top performing banks in America,” said Tracy French, Chairman of Centennial Bank.